Giving up broadcast and watching it all online

The NY Times reports that Time Warner Cable has dropped LIN TV from their programming in markets including Buffalo, NY, Green Bay, WI and Austin, TX .  LIN TV operates the major CBS and CW affiliates (along with a host of other stations), which includes the Buffalo Bills NFL games.  In other words, Time Warner is dropping a major network television station.  For what?

Time Warner bristled at the prospect of paying for material “that’s available over the air for free — and now available online for free,” said Alexander Dudley, a company spokesman.

That’s right, Time Warner no longer wants to have to pay money for content that is by and large available for free, whether over the air or online.  CBS posts many of its top shows online (although not all of them, sadly), and local news coverage is also available online (WIVB is one of the local CBS affiliate).  Time Warner even went so far as to create a video instructing customers on how to get their favorite shows online.

“Simply go to the network’s Web site and choose your favorite program,” the video continued, recognizing that almost all prime-time programs are now streamed online within a day of their TV premiere. Some — but not most — of the sporting events and local newscasts are also available online.

What I find interesting is that Time Warner has no reserves about sending it’s customers online; they also sell broadband internet access, and ostenisbly don’t care, as far as the consumer is concerned, whether the content is consumed via cable TV or over broadband Internet, as long as they aren’t paying for stuff via one medium that is free in the other.  And that makes perfect sense.  What this points to is a future model where content is delivered via the most inexpensive means possible, and as directly as possible to the consumer.  This is similar to the model that NPR is adopting by distributing all their content online and via podcast, and trust me, their affiliate stations, that pay money for that very same content, aren’t happy about it.

Proportionate Response?

In the mean time, LIN TV is fighting back; in a letter to viewers, they explain the situation and encourage their audience to sign up with other television providers, such as DISH, AT&T or Verizon FiOS.

I’m not well-versed (yet) on the economics here, but it would seem to me that LIN TV should be pursuing a more direct-to-consumer strategy here.  Instead of directing viewers to other networks, essentially handing over their customers to a third-party, why not invest in building out a internet presence that lets viewers get the shows they want online?

If you ask me, Time Warner is the one that is right here; other than the content playing live on air, there’s no reason for them to pay for something that is free elsewhere.  LIN TV should be looking at how they can build out an online presence to go directly to the consumer; in just a few years, that is all there will be anyhow.

UPDATE: This is bigger than just Buffalo and CBS; LIN TV apparently operates affiliate stations from various different networks in many different US cities.

• Austin, TX:  saying goodbye to NBC, The Office.
• A detailed list of all the markets LIN TV serves.
• Buffalo Bills fans are missing their team.
• Coverage from local Buffalo news.

FREE YOURSELVES FROM THE SHACKLES OF THE TELEVISION NETWORKS.  JOIN US ONLINE!  THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED!

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This is not ‘Nam; There are Rules

When I introduced No More TV and the premise behind giving up broadcast television for a year, using instead only content delivered over the Internet, I realized I forgot to lay down the rules.  So, without further ado, here they are:

• No broadcast television
• No cable television
• No sattelite/dish television
• No TV tuner cards in a PC
• The TV may be used as long as what is being viewed is not delivered by either of the above methods (for example, watching a DVD is permissible)
• This applies for everything: TV shows, news, election results/coverage, sporting events, etc.

Other than that, everything is fair game.  Once a rule is a rule (i.e. it appears on this page), it remains a rule for the duration of the experiment.  Additional rules may be added at a later date.

The Legal Question

There is one aspect of the No More TV experiment that I’m struggling with: illegal content.  I’m not sure what to do in this situation, and I’m looking for advice.  On the one hand, I want this to be as true-to-life an experiment as possible, and in the real world, if you can’t get your favorite shows online, you download them over BitTorrent (or get them in some other illegal fashion).  On the other hand, I want this to be an exploration of what the current state of the industry is, and falling back on illegal content doesn’t really focus on that.  I think that for now, I’m going to say that illegal/unauthorized content is off-limits; I will, however, continue to point out that content companies that don’t make their content available online put themselves at risk of their audiences doing it for them, and losing out.

Now for the fun part.  If these rules are ever broken, I’ll submit myself for some kind of punishment.  We’ll get to that when/if it happens (stay tuned around the time of the season premieres of Lost or Battlestar Galactica).

Is anything missing?  Let me know!

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Is it just me, or does SNL’s most recent digital short, Extreme Challenge, look, sound and feel a whole lot like Smosh’s annual Food Battle?

You be the judge:

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In the Beginning

Since the demise of Seinfeld and Friends, I haven’t been a big sitcom enthusiast.  But last year, Penny (that’s my wife, who’s suffering along with me this year in watching everything online) introduced me to How I Met Your Mother, and we started watching regularly.  The quirky humor combined with just a tad of geekiness, not to mention Cobie Smulders (<growl>, you have to watch an episode of HIMYM in HD to get the full CS experience) as Robin Scherbatsky and, my personal idol, NPH as Barney Stinson, made it a must-see for us each week.  A few weeks in, I plopped myself down in front of the tele 10 minutes early and got instantly hooked on The Big Bang Theory.  So much so that TBBT is more of a must-see for me that HIMYM.  What can I say, I identify with a group of socially awkward geeks.

The Search for Answers

Fortunately for me, I was able to catch the season premiere of The Big Bang Theory last week (before I started the experiment), and it did not disappoint.  This past week however, the experiment had begun, and I’m off TV.  I didn’t actually expect there to be any problem.  Boy, was I wrong.

The Big Bang Theory, despite ostensible appeal to people who spend most of their days (and nights) basking in the glow of their computer monitors, is not to be found online in full epsiode format.  CBS.com, whose site is more difficult to navigate than a mapping of the human Genome (another post in the works: why the major networks all need to redesign their websites), has a page devoted to TBBT, with only clips and recaps of each episode.  Like the great mysteries of the universe, this left me asking the One Great Question: WHY?

Ok, no problem, I thought.  Let’s just fire up the old iTunes and download the old episode (as much as I loathe buying content in this format - again, a post for another time - for TBBT, I would have).  Not available.  Not available via the Zune Marketplace or Amazon Video On Demand either.  As far as I can find, The Big Bang Theory is not available in full episode format online.

CBS.com does provide a recap, a photo gallery (photo gallery?!?! What year is it?) and a few clips from each episode, which give the gist of the overall plot, but leave you without the full Big Bang experience.  Whatsmore, CBS squeezes every last drop out of even their two-minute clips; a 15- or 30-second pre-roll ad is played before most clips.  Why not just put the whole episode out there and put in two or three 30-second ads?  Like science’s quest to find a theory to unify quantum gravity and quantum mechanics, it boggles the mind.  At the very least, clips from TBBT are embeddable, but only if you grab them from a certain page, which I can’t seem to find right now (again, CBS.com is overly confusing).

Final Examination

So, as far at the The Big Bang Theory goes:

• Full episodes available online: F
• Full episodes available for purchase/download: F
• Clips available online: C+ (points for embedabble on some players, deductions for pre-roll ads)
• Website experience: C

Overall grade: D

As such, I have no choice but to give The Big Bang Theory, and CBS, a broken TV for their failure to bring this geek-friendly show to the online world.

(QED)

I don’t know what I’m going to do this year with The Big Bang Theory, it’s been one of my favorite shows.  If anyone has any other hypothesis as to how to solve this dilema (other than BitTorrent; one of the rules, which are forthcoming, is nothing illegal; but that’s what most everyone else would do), please let me know.

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I’m not a huge political junkie, but in an election year, I generally watch the major debates as well as election night coverage. Other than that, most of my political information comes from SNL or The Daily Show (when I was in high school, I would have voted for Ross Perot, based solely on the fact that Dana Carvey’s impersonation of him was by far the funniest). It’s not hard to find snippets of political interviews and debates online on YouTube after the fact, but live…I wasn’t sure if the networks would put the debate online. Turns out, it’s really easy to watch.

Where to Watch the Debate Online

• MSNBC - streaming live on MSNBC.com. Actually ahead of what is on TV. Must watch a 30 second pre-roll ad.
• CNN - slightly delayed, you can watch the debate live on CNN.com.
• FoxNews.com - also ahead of the TV broadcast, with a 30 second pre-roll ad. Comes with an in-picture shot of commentators, who mostly just laugh and interject ridiculous comments.

Other sites that are streaming the debate: ABC News, Yahoo News and CBS News.

Where to Watch?

MSNBC wins hands-down in terms of video quality; Fox News has a nice big picture, but the resolution…not so great, and the stream skipped a bit. CNN’s picture was small, but clear. At this point, I’d have to vote for MSNBC; I’m not really interested in comments from the peanut gallery (unless it’s John Stewart…), and their quality is excellent. I don’t like the pre-roll ad, but I suppose they have to monetize it somehow; I would prefer in-video ads, though.

Bonus for MSNBC: you can embed their player in your site!

Know of any other places to watch the debates or other political coverage online? Let me know.

But enough about politics…when is the next episode of The Office going to be on?

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I’m giving up TV for one year.

Now, when I say I’m giving up TV, I mean I’m giving up watching TV on my TV. I’m still going to watch my shows, I’m just not going to watch them on my TV or on my DVR. I’m going to watch everything online.

I think the time has come where we can get rid of our TV sets and do away with broadcast television. I’m not sure it’s going to be easy, but I think it’s doable. The only way to find out is to do it.

A little background: I’m not quite a TV addict, but I am a TV-aholic. When I looked at this season’s schedule, I have shows to watch pretty much every night of the week. I’m a guy, so shows like 24, Lost and The Office are at the top of my list; Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, ER, towards the bottom. But there’s a lot in between: Life, The Big Bang Theory, HIMYM, Heroes, Scrubs. Not to mention Mythbusters, anything on The History Channel or HBO, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report…you get the idea.

The Time has Come

Last year, it wasn’t quite possible to get everything online in a timely fashion. iTunes lost a large portion of NBC content, and Hulu didn’t come online until the tail end of the season. This year, there’s even more options to explore, with all the major networks putting their shows online in some form or another. NBC is back on iTunes, Amazon has entered the fray, Netflix is making a play, and Hulu is coming on strong. Not to mention the aggregators and third-party sites that are adding features and context to show itself, making the watching experience more social and entertaining.

It’s Not Just for TV Anymore

In addition to cataloging my experiences in cutting myself off from broadcast, I’m also going to look at web-based media. It is, in my opinion, important to attempt an understanding as to why the web is a different medium and how and why content will or will not succeed online. We’ll get more into this later.

Fun for the Whole Family

And it’s not just me: it’s everyone in the house. My wife and my kids (ages 9, 7 and 4) will be joining me in this experiment. I think it will be quite interesting to get their perspective on what it means to give up TV and go all online.

So that’s the plan. I hope you’ll subscribe to our feed and check back periodically to see how we’re doing. In the mean time, look for reviews of sites and tools, as well as thoughts on shows, both the professional and the amateur.

TV is dead! Long live TV!

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Let it begin…

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